Tigers tag Bulldogs in 2-2A contest

Saturday

Mar 31, 2012 at 12:01 AMJun 29, 2012 at 11:18 AM

Pangburn scored four runs in the top of the fourth then added three more in the fifth while erasing a two-run deficit for 12-7 win over the Quitman Bulldogs on Tuesday in a 2-2A conference battle at the Quitman Sports Complex.

Will Gilbert/Sports Editor

Pangburn scored four runs in the top of the fourth then added three more in the fifth while erasing a two-run deficit for 12-7 win over the Quitman Bulldogs on Tuesday in a 2-2A conference battle at the Quitman Sports Complex.
Tigers Coach Drew Hohn said pitchers Logan Gray and Chase Hopkins helped his team stay close until the bats came around. “Logan kinda struggled finding the strike zone tonight but I thought he did really well. He was kinda getting squeezed there but can’t argue about that. He got a pretty high pitch count so I took him out and Hopkins came in and threw strikes. He did a really good job. Offensively, we started slow but made some big hits and we got runners in scoring position. We got in the flow, battled and got the lead.”
Leadoff hitter Jared Wallace paced Pangburn’s offensive attack. “Jared Wallace was either 4-for-5 or 5-for-5 and had about six or seven steals,” Hohn said. “I think he had about four or five RBIs as well. We had about four or five guys that had some big hits and probably two-plus RBIs.”
The Tigers, who improved to 1-0 in conference play while Quitman dropped to 1-1, took the game’s first lead in the top of the first as Wallace led off with a single past third base.
Wallace advanced to third on an errant pickoff attempt and scored on a bobbled strikeout, which forced Quitman catcher Jacob Hutchings’ throw to first base, completing the out as Wallace alertly crossed without a throw back home.
Hopkins walked but Quitman starting pitcher Sawyer Johnson worked out of further trouble with a strikeout and groundout handled by second baseman Matt McRae, eventually leaving Hopkins stranded 90 feet from home.
Facing Gray, Pangburn’s left-handed starting pitcher, the Bulldogs snatched the lead with two runs aided by a pair of walks and errors in the bottom of the first frame.
Hutchings took one for the team to get Quitman started then Sawyer Johnson reached on a fielding error with one out. Both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch before DJ McVay drove home courtesy runner Dillon Upton with an RBI groundout to shortstop Alec Bourgeois.
Johnson moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a throwing error as Quitman took a 2-1 lead before Gray recorded a strikeout to end the first inning.
The Tigers reclaimed the lead with two runs in the top of the second but Quitman answered, taking a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the third when Sheldon Minor scored on a wild pitch.
Trailing 5-3, Pangburn stormed in front in the top of the fourth. With two runners in scoring position and two out, Gray delivered a 2 RBI single up the middle that scored Mac Myers and Wallace.
Moments later Gray scored on a passed ball then Dylan Myers ripped an RBI single up the middle, scoring Hopkins as Pangburn took a 7-5 lead to the bottom of the fourth.
After McVay walked in the bottom half, Hopkins relieved Gray and recorded three consecutive outs, including two by strikeout, preserving the Tigers’ lead.
Pangburn added three more runs in the top of the fifth as Mac Myers reached on a dropped third strike and Hunter Poe walked before Austin Smith pushed both runners into scoring position with a groundout.
Wallace crushed a 2 RBI single to center field that scored Myers and Poe, giving the Tigers a 9-5 lead. After Quitman relieved Johnson with lefty Parker Ring, Gray looped a single into left field then Hopkins dropped a bunt, which plated Wallace as Pangburn pushed its lead to 10-5 going into the bottom of the fifth.
Hopkins retired the Bulldogs in order in the fifth and the Tigers tacked on an insurance run in the sixth as Dylan Myers led off with a double down the left field line. Walker Haynes’ groundout pushed Myers to third and brought up Mac Myers, who drove home Dylan Myers with an RBI single to center field.
Down by six, Quitman scratched across a run in the bottom of the sixth as Walker Johnson walked and eventually scored when Sawyer Johnson smashed an RBI single to center field.
Hopkins fired back with three straight strikeouts, leaving Johnson stranded in scoring position.
Wallace led off the seventh with a single and he swiped second before Ring retired two straight, including one by strikeout.
But, Bourgeois came through with an RBI single up the middle that scored Wallace and gave the Tigers a 12-6 lead entering the last frame.
With one out, Quitman tired to stir up a rally in the seventh as Caleb Freeman reached on a throwing error and Trey Watson slapped a single to right field before Hutchings pulled an RBI single to right field, scoring Freeman and cutting the Bulldogs’ deficit to five.
Facing the middle of Quitman’s lineup and two runners in scoring position, Hopkins used a high fastball for a strikeout and retired Sawyer Johnson on a towering pop-up to shallow left field, where Bourgeois made the catch from his shortstop position.